In my last post ‘Looking under the intranet bonnet‘ I explained how publishing standards are the foundation to a consistent user experience. The problem I find is that most organisations have publishing standards – usability is the most common one – but how they are implemented can be flawed.
I recommend you follow the next steps and use it as part of your publishing standards toolkit. The other part of your toolkit will be the publishing standards.
- Frequently I find there is no agreed scope for the application of publishing standards. Is it just for news and policies? What about applications or collaboration tools? Agree the scope in line with your strategy, action plan, and roles and responsibilities.
- Then it is about how these publishing standards should be applied. There are many different approaches that I recommend depending on their needs. The main aim is to have a consistent method that improves the publisher and user experience. It also reassures organisations that content is secure, especially sensitive or personal information, and managed well.
- I find organisations do not appreciate the benefits of a well governed intranet or digital workplace until a crisis occurs. Then you find funding is not a problem and the problem is fixed as quickly as possible! You need to have some way to measure their impact.
- A culture of risk management supported by policies, training, communication and education helps to ensure the value of well-managed information through publishing standards is critical. This will vary from organisation to organisation but it is essential and cannot be ignored by wistful and over optimistic thinking.
When you have removed these barriers to an improved and more consistent user experience you will be able to apply your publishing standards and, this is real key to success, show the benefits from taking this approach.
In my next post will be on the first publishing standard and the benefits from applying it.
It is not too late to suggest a publishing standard or leave a comment on whether you agree or disagree with the points I have made in this post.